PRF/J: Molecular Genetics of Wing Coloration Polymorphism in Heliconius Butterflies: Isolation, Characterization and Phylogenetic Analysis of Linked Nuclear DNA Regions

新热带拟蛱蝶（属共38种）翅型变异的进化是研究遗传漂变和自然选择在地理种族形成中的作用的理想系统。多年来对这一系统的研究未能揭示出不同异域形式的惊人多样性可能归因于的潜在机制。通过鉴定回交种属中与翼型等位基因共分离的RAPD分子遗传标记，将有可能鉴定和测序与一个广泛分布的物种（Heliconius erato）的多个地理种族的模式改变等位基因相关的核DNA片段。我们将对不同种间的每个模式相关标记进行系统发育分析，并将其与来自线粒体基因的种内关系的独立系统发育假设进行比较，以确定异域种间相似的翅膀模式是否通过选择而长期保持。或者是由不同的祖先繁衍而来的。结果将增强我们对替代进化力量在模仿复合体产生中的作用的理解，并为Heliconius基因组图谱研究提供初步模板。本研究还将在分子水平上阐明选择对表型的影响。鉴定在功能上参与图案形成的基因的可能性是令人兴奋的，因为它已经假设所有蝴蝶（可能所有鳞翅目）负责翅膀图案的发育途径是同源的。如果这是真的，它将对分子发育生物学产生深远的影响。

The evolution of wing pattern variation in Neotropical mimetic Heliconius butterflies (altogether 38 species in the genus) is an ideal system for investigating the roles of genetic drift and natural selection in the formation of geographical races. Years of studying this system have failed to reveal underlying mechanisms to which a stunning diversity of distinct allopatric forms may be attributed. By identifying RAPD molecular genetic markers that co- segregate with wing-pattern alleles in backcrossed broods, it will be possible to identify and sequence nuclear DNA fragments linked to pattern-altering alleles from multiple geographical races of a widespread species (Heliconius erato). A phylogenetic analysis of each pattern-related marker among different H. erato races will be compared to an independent phylogenetic hypothesis of intraspecific relationships from a mitochondrial gene, to determine if similar wing patterns in allopatric races have been maintained over time by selection, or have arisen multiply and independently from separate ancestors. %%% Results will enhance our understanding of the roles of alternate evolutionary forces in the production of a mimicry complex and provide a preliminary template for genomic map studies in Heliconius. This study will also illuminate the effects of selection on phenotype at the molecular level. The possibility of identifying genes that are functionally involved in pattern formation is an exciting one, for it has been hypothesized that the developmental pathway responsible for wing patterns is homologous in all butterflies (and possibly all Lepidoptera). If this is true, it would have far reaching implications for molecular developmental biology in general.